“It is clear that he and I can never be friends. He is either a lover or an enemy. Literature, no, poetry is.” (“Siin Hugi” [“A Poet’s Review”], Sijeol Hana Onda, Jabameokja [A New Season Approaching: Devour It]. Changjakgwa Bipyeongsa, 1997)
Lee Kyunglim is a poet who explores the intensity of the inner self as well as the sorrow of the age.
1. Life
Lee’s poetry is regarded as having transformed both intense self-reflection and the sorrow of the age into poetic expression. In her earlier poems written from the mid to late 1990s, collected in Geugosedo Sageorineun Itda (There Is an Intersection There Too) and Sijeol Hana Onda, Jabameokja (A New Season Approaching: Devour It), despair and hope rapidly intertwine. In these collections, she conveys her poetic consciousness through a free and unrestrained tone. Her poetic speaker experiences life as a state of confinement and feels rage toward a world full of lies, yet opens their inner self through love and forms a connection with others. Lee’s poetry is rooted in the conflict between the world’s imposed conceptions of existence and the dynamic forms of existence that continually undone from within. Meanwhile, Naman Aneun Jeongwoni Itda (There’s a Garden Only I Know), published in 2001, sits between poetry and the novel, employing a poetic writing style and connecting the individual works to one another to create a new form. In Nae Momsoge Pureun Horangiga Itda (There Is a Blue Tiger Inside Me), she represents life through the blue tiger and captures the hovering between illusion and absence as a unified feeling. In Geup! Godok (Sudden! Solitude), she delves into the roots of existences that are continually born and become extinct, exploring the landscape of inner life.
2. Writing
Lee Kyunglim was born in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province in 1947. During her childhood, she experienced instability as her family lived in poverty, as well as the loss of her younger sibling. When she was in high school, she suffered from tuberculosis and struggled with the illness. In her twenties, she harbored hostility toward her father and was in conflict with him, suffered from postpartum depression, experienced a relapse of tuberculosis, and developed panic disorder. While she was battling her illnesses, she began writing poetry. Inspired by a lecture by the poet, Oh Kyu-won, she became even more engrossed in writing poetry, and her panic disorder improved. In 1989, she made her literary debut with the publication of “Gullyogui Ttangeseo – Jinege” (“To Jin: From the Land of Humiliation”) and nine other poems in Literature and Criticism. She has given lectures on writing poetry at the Graduate School of Art at Chung-Ang University and is primarily based in Incheon.
Reference
Kim, Jeong-ran. “Hwanmyeoreul Geukbokaneun Sarang” (“Love That Overcomes Disillusionment”). Sijeol Hana Onda, Jabameokja (A New Season Approaching: Devour It). Changjakgwa Bipyeongsa, 1997
Chung, Jinkyu. “Huimanggwa Jeolmangui Naetong – Igyeongnimui Si Ilgi” (“A Secret Collusion Between Hope and Despair: Reading Lee Kyunglim’s Poetry”). Geugosedo Sageorineun Itda (There Is an Intersection There Too). Segyesa, 1995
Poetry Collections and Selected Works
Tossichatgi (In Search of Particles). Saenggakhaneun Baekseong, 1992
Geugosedo Sageorineun Itda (There Is an Intersection There Too). Segyesa, 1995
Sijeol Hana Onda, Jabameokja (A New Season Approaching: Devour It). Changjakgwa Bipyeongsa, 1997
Sangjadeul (Boxes). Random House JoongAng, 2005
Nae Momsoge Pureun Horangiga Itda (There Is a Blue Tiger Inside Me). Random House JoongAng, 2011
Geup! Godok (Sudden! Solitude). Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2019
Supe Tteoreojin Haru (A Day That Fell in the Forest). Doongji, 1993 (multiple authors)
Momsoge Byeori Tteunda (Stars Rise Inside the Body). Yunkeom, 1998 (multiple authors)
Saebyeogeul Humchida (Stealing Dawn). Litopia, 2006 (multiple authors)
Saranghaesseul Ppunida (All I Did Was Love). Munhaknamoo, 2009 (multiple authors)
Saram: Siro Ingneun Hanguk Geundae Inmulsa (People: Reading about Modern Korean Figures Through Poetry). MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2013 (multiple authors)
Sireul Sseuljieonjeong Yueoneun Sseuji Anketso (Even If I Write Poetry, I Shall Not Write a Will). Embla, 2014 (multiple authors)
Byeori Binnaneun Bam (Starry Night). Siwabansi, 2017 (multiple authors)
Jakgadeurui Gil (The Path of Writers). Salmchang Publishing, 2018 (multiple authors)
Mogi Gin Ibyeol (A Lingering Farewell). Balgyeon, 2020 (multiple authors)
Yeojeonhi Meon (Still Far). Dainart, 2022 (multiple authors)
Naeireun Biga Ondadeon (Will It Rain Tomorrow?). Addval, 2023 (multiple authors)
Kkumsogui Kkum (A Dream Within a Dream). Geodneunsaram, 2023 (multiple authors)
Fiction
Naman Aneun Jeongwoni Itda (There’s a Garden Only I Know). Irum, 2001
Essays
Eonjebuteonga Uneun Geoseul Ijeobeoryeotda (At Some Point, I’ve Forgotten to Cry). Irum, 2008
Scholarly Works
Sayuui Gipi, Gwancharui Gipi (The Depth of Thought, the Depth of Observation). Jihye, 2013
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